Turbulent Market Squeezes Out Gains

The big 10.2% unemployment number hit this morning and stocks were down. Then they were up. Then they were down. This cycle repeated itself throughout the day, finally ending with Dow up 17 points, the NASDAQ up 7 points, and the S&P up 2 points.

While Fannie Mae was busy asking the government for another $15 billion, Oil dropped to $77.67 a barrel.

Gold, however, continued to rise as the U.S. dollar fell. December futures contracts are now trading over $1,100.

By sector, financials and insurance took a pretty nasty loss. Tech remained relatively stable throughout the day and energy companies got smashed by the Bears. Consumer retail spending remains positive, though, which helped keep companies like McDonald’s (MCD), FedEx (FDX), Comcast (CMCSA), and Lowes Hardware (LOW) afloat. GE (GE) gained 6.2% to close at 15.33.

Finally, one of today’s breakout stars is Activision-Blizzard (ATVI), which closed at 11.25, up 3.5%. Great Q309 results with a strong balance sheet and healthy properties helped it beat analyst expectations. With the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 next week, ATVI is poised to smash video game records. Modern Warfare 2 will most likely gross more than a typical hollywood blockbuster in its first two weeks of sales.

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